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by John Adams-Graf Trends in the military hobby are not always difficult to predict: Items that soldiers were eager to find as souvenirs have become the hot collectibles today. For example, German Luger pistols and Japanese “Samurai” swords were probably … More »

In the late 1970s, the historic military hobby experienced pretty intense growing pains. The nation’s oldest organization dedicated to the collecting and driving of historic military vehicles (HMVs), the National Military Vehicles Collectors Association (NMVCA), splintered in 1976, resulting in … More »

Both the militaria and historic military vehicle hobbies depend on new collectors and dealers learning how to connect with each other. For the past two years, we have published an “ambassador issue” for the military vehicle hobby that has been … More »

As directed by the 2005 round of the the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, many significant historic vehicle (HMV) collections at U.S. Army facilities are being relocated. For example, the process is evident at Aberdeen Proving Grounds where a … More »

Most folks believe it is illegal to own a machine gun. The truth is, it is completely legal to own a machine gun—if it is registered with the federal government. Owning and shooting fully automatic machine guns is a vibrant … More »

How time flies! When I began gathering materials for the December issue of Military Vehicles Magazine (MVM), it occurred to me that it was going to be the 150th issue. As I paused to do the math to determine 25 … More »

It seems there is a lot of talk about “selling a collection” these days. Whether it is the uncertain economy, life adjustments or simply a change in interests, the fact is, many collectors are divesting themselves of years of accumulation. … More »

“The person who defines their own qualities by quoting someone else does just that.” It seems like everyone is quoting someone these days. I am normally not a big fan of quotes, but I do keep one on my desk … More »

From the time immediately following WWII until the last few years, the nature of military collecting has followed a generalized path. Collectors gathered whatever they encountered—if the price was “right.” During the last decade, that style of collecting has given … More »

At a recent military vehicle show, the event planners organized a last-minute “parade of historic military vehicles.” Each owner was asked to drive his or her vehicle past the bleachers of viewers while a narrator explained highlights of each MV. … More »